Research at SIO encompasses physical, chemical, biological, geological, and geophysical studies of the oceans, Earth, and planets. SIO undergraduate and graduate programs provide transformative educational and research opportunities in ocean, earth, and atmospheric sciences, as well as degrees in climate science and policy and marine biodiversity and conservation. Dede's laboratory will study development and evolution of two large animal groups, mollusks and echinoderms, focusing on two marine species in particular, the slipper snail and the variegated sea urchin. Members of her lab will use molecular biology, experimental embryology, live-imaging, cell-lineage analysis, and gene regulatory networks analysis to discover how different animal forms have evolved as a result of changes to developmental programs, for example how mollusk shells and echinoderm skeletons evolved.
Dede, a twelve-year Waldorf student and graduate of Highland Hall, earned a B.A. in Biology from Mount Holyoke College (MA), and a PhD in Molecular and Cell biology from U.C. Berkeley (CA). She has served as a teaching assistant, and conducted summer research, at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole (MA), and is completing her post-doctorate work at Duke University before starting her faculty position.